That’s good. But you need a third element: The ability to “pitch” your idea to venture capitalists and others who can help turn your dream into reality.

Budding business tycoons or Hollywood script writers know the importance of marketing themselves and their projects. But those in the nonprofit world, whose goal is altruistic, may never have thought about how to put a dazzling sheen on their quick “elevator pitch.”

Learning what goes into a perfect pitch was just one of the practical skills taught to a group of up-and-coming “social innovators” last month at the 12th annual PopTech conference in Camden, Maine.

PopTech has always been a place to hear about new ideas to improve the world. But this year, greater efforts have been made to turn those ideas into a reality, says its curator and executive director, Andrew Zolli.

“People don’t want to just sit around and talk about things,” he says. “They want to connect and collaborate and have a meaningful impact.” The idea, Mr. Zolli says, is to “transform PopTech into a factory for making big bets on great ideas.”

This year, 16 innovators were chosen from more than 100 finalists in 30 countries. They touted projects such as a way to survey the world’s 1 billion “invisible” poor people, introduce distance learning over the Internet to Nigeria, and protect people in developing countries from harmful, counterfeit drugs.